A Salute To Heroics
by Emeraldadrasteia
Summary: Zuko relies on his impulses. Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai freak out. Katara gets pissed off. The rest of the Gaang is notably absent. In other words, your typical 'Bluetara gone wrong' fic.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: I had an urge to write Bluetara. Only I'm quickly growing tired of fics in which Katara swoons in Zuko's arms. Hence this. :D Oh yeah, and there's a bit of violence. FYI.

**A Salute To Heroics**

See, Katara had been _prepared_ for an event like this. All that time that Aang spent training with Toph freed up time for her to hone specific moves and attacks to improve her style and delivery. She had _shifted through the stances_, feeling the _ebb and flow_ within the quiet forest.

So, she was ready for those three crazy girls as they attacked her.

The little snag in the whole situation was her whole "tough girl ready to take on the world" image blowing up as she fell and promptly fainted.

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Zuko, on the other hand, hadn't actually been looking for an open confrontation with his sister and her cronies (not that he would be one to run away screaming if she attacked him, please give him _some_ credit at least; it's just that fighting with Azula was not something he wanted to do in this particular "mission").

For him, it had been the same task as it had been with Zhao: slow down the competition.

So far he had successfully removed all the axles from Azula's train-car. That had actually been a lot of fun, with the climax being the total breakdown of the vehicle.

Zuko grinned ear-to-ear from behind his mask as he followed their trail into the forest, aiming for those damned lizards next.

But, when he saw the water peasant girl 's head collide with the side of Mai's boot, even he thought that it had been a bit harsh.

He'd have been the last person to underestimate girls, given that he had often been given the short end of the stick because of his sister, but _still_. _Ouch_.

He had a good ten-second window to act, and he used the first five seconds to figure out what the hell to do, so he forgot all his planning and haphazardly leapt out of the bushes, brandishing his swords and only hoping that they contact with at least Azula's face (and maybe even give a scar to match... wouldn't _that_ be fun?).

_Swipe, swipe. Plunk, plunk. Plop._

Two lizard head rolled clean off their bodies, while the third lizard tumbled to the ground as its severed leg dropped.

Zuko blinked as the three Fire Nation girls tried to get up from their fallen, bloody beasts and then flipped the water peasant over his shoulder before bolting through the forest cover like a YuuYan archer after a sip of one of those "chi-enhancing" teas.

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The _plan_ had been to keep running until he could get enough distance between an enraged Azula and himself.

It would have helped, however, if he hadn't been so highly aware of how certain parts of the girl's body were _bouncing_ against his back (and since when did it get so hot in this forest? His face was simply _burning_. Metaphorically speaking).

But then he realized that the water peasant was perfectly capable of walking (and leading him to the Avatar and Co.) once she was aroused.

_Roused_, Zuko corrected himself with a hiccup.


	2. Chapter 2

He laid down the girl onto the grass. _Gently_ should have been the keyword, but-_oof!_-her back hit the ground before he could stop her from falling out of his arms. 

Grumbling under his breath, Zuko reached for her waterskin to revive her... at the unfortunate moment that Katara chose to regain consciousness and open her eyes.

As she blinked and furrowed her eyebrows, Zuko realized that his fingers trailed only a few inches of her, _ahem_, chest region while the rest of his body remained suspended over her supine figure. All in all, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable situation for any teenage girl to wake up to.

Zuko coughed awkwardly and stood up (to help dispel any notions that hinted that he was any more or less than a sincere Samaritan-type; he couldn't help but think that his mask and general Zuko-ness proved everything to the contrary, but it was too late to correct that _now_).

"A-Are you okay?" he mumbled.

Katara frowned at the dark-garbed, marked man in front of her as she got to her feet. Something about the disturbing mask screamed Highway Robber or Crazy Supernatural Cult Member or Possibly Some Creep in Jet's Gang She's Seen Before (because there's something in his rough, muffled voice that seems painfully familiar).

All were, to some respect, wrong in the context, but the lack of this knowledge certainly did not prevent the waterbender from screaming as loudly as possible.

"No, no," groaned Zuko, reaching out to comfort her shoulder, "_listen_, I'm here to hel-"

His hand did not contact any part of her shoulder. She had twisted slightly such that his hand instead landed on—

Oh, Agni.

Heat rushed to Zuko's face and pounded in his ears (_boob boob boob boob boob boob_) as he snapped his hands to his sides and stuttered out an apology without looking _there_ (_boobboobboobboobboobboobboobboobboob_).

Katara gaped in shock, mouth open not unlike that of a fish, before glaring with all her super waterbending master fury and moving her hand towards her waterskin.

A _whoosh_ and a thud later, Zuko found that his back ached slightly against the trunk of the tree behind him while there was an uncomfortable sensation in his abdominal region, which was entirely due to the sheet of ice plastered over his body and limbs.

Zuko watched through the slits of his mask as the insane waterbender made to leave him (her freaking _rescuer_) bound in the cage of ice.

But Katara slid her eyes back to the masked man and paused, drawn to that intimidating mask.

Zuko stared back, wondering what in Agni's name she was doing. Was she going to actually hurt him? Were the Avatar's weird last-minute redemptive ideals contagious?

Was she going to _kiss_ him?

It was a stupid suggestion, yes, he knew, but there she was, barely a foot away from him and her lips were _puckered_.

And though it was stupid to think about, his heart was suddenly racing; he could no longer breath properly through mouth and he had lost track of whether he was supposed to breathe in or out and settled for _not at all_ as she placed her hands on the cheeks of his mask and tiptoed to meet his eyeholes.

To his surprise, she blew over his eyeholes, a puff of cool air meeting his eyes before another sheath of ice materialized over his mask. The girl let go of the mask and took a couple steps back. Zuko shook his head, but to no avail; all he could see through this frosty kaleidoscope was the blue blur of her dress rapidly disappearing from the green.

Damn. He was stuck  
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Katara peeked at the man between the foliage before turning on her heel towards Aang and Sokka's camp and quickly lowering her palm.

There was a very satisfying _thump_, followed by a groan behind her.

_Pervert_.  
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_fin_  
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_


End file.
